Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hi,

I have recently purchased a new Ariens 926002 Snowblower. I have only used it a few times however, today with using it in the some fresh 16 to 24" (or greater) of snow the engine really slows down to the point of almost stalling and it makes a louder noise something like a cracking/rattling noise. I am not forcing the machine at all and have use other snowblowers in the past so I have experience using them. The choke is fully open and the throttle is set to "fast" position and the machine is set to the slowest gear foward.

When the machine is not moving and I reduce the throttle to "slow", there is smoke coming from the front of the engine (not out of the muffler) but in the same area that the oil is showing coming from (just below where the muffler actually connects to the engine). I can see the oil on the snowblower discharge chute also. I don't think this is normal unless it's part of the "break-in period" but the manual doesn't say anything about oil coming out of the machine.

I thought it could be the belt slipping so I will try to see how to check that later today.

Does anyone know if this is a problem? Should any oil be showing coming out of this area? I have checked the oil level and it is within the safe level. I will change the oil now as it's almost at the 5 hour mark.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Krazy-Knuck

Get into the habit of checking the oil every time you start it up for the first time each day you use it. You will hopefully catch a low oil condition before you blow the engine. From what I've read it sounds like a bad head gasket. I wonder if Tecumseh had a bad batch of gaskets since the engine was brand new and others reported the same problem.

The more I look at the leak I think it is a bad head gasket.  The machine might have 15 hours of use on it.  I bought it at Home Depot Canada and they contract out their repairs to local repair shops.  After having 5 major snow storms in the last week and a half with approximately 100 centerimeters in total (40 inches) I can't take a chance of bringing it to a shop to have it looked at because it might be there two weeks or more and we have more snow forcasted for later this week.  A friend of mine has a snowblower which he purchased at Sears which needs repairs and there is a two week waiting period before it can be looked at.  I'll just keep checking the oil every time I use it.  My snowblower is a Ariens Model #1128LE.  I will make some phone calls to Ariens, Tecumseh, or Home Depot when the snow lets up and will keep you posted.

Regards,
Eastern Canada